Now What Do We Do?
by Filodea
Summary: What happened after Toddy's performance? Rated M because of a relationship between Toddy and Squash. Disclaimer: Anyone or anything you recognize is not mine.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Four adults sat in a suite at a luxurious hotel in Paris, staring at each other.

"That was fun. Now what do we do?" The only woman in the group asked, rather rhetorically.

"You got us into this, you get us out." The oldest man responded with a faint hint of humor in his voice.

The entire group chuckled, remembering a few short weeks ago when those lines had been spoken by the opposite person to who spoke them this time.

"Go back to America?" the man who was sitting next to the woman asked.

"No!" Surprisingly, it was the burliest of the four who spoke up.

"Squash?" the second man asked, surprised.

"I don't want to go back to hiding what I am! I've liked being able to be more open about my preferences, and not feeling like everyone disapproves. Besides, I want to stay with Toddy, and I don't think he wants to go back." Squash was adamant.

"No, I don't. I am in Paris for a reason. I gave up my American citizenship. Queens are not accepted well. Gays, period, are not accepted well. However, we have to have a way to make a living. King, did you actually sell your half of the club to Sal?" Toddy had been thinking while the discussion went on around him.

"Yeah. I "convinced" him, or rather Squash did, that he should give me the full value of my half. It's amazing what a man will agree to when he's dangling half a foot off the floor, being held there by a hand around his throat."

"Toddy, what are you up to?" The woman, Victoria, looked at her mentor suspiciously.

"I heard that Labisse has put his club up for sale. It seems he doesn't have the funds to fix it up after the last brawl."

"And?" Victoria wanted him to spell it out.

"King could buy the club, you could perform, I could emcee and perform, and Squash could be our bouncer."

"I don't think I have enough to buy the club and fix it up. We broke it up pretty good."

"Maybe Andre would like to get in on it. Give him something new to promote. He was a little upset that Victoria wasn't really Victor."

"That might stop him from suing me for breach of contract. He would still have exclusive rights to promote me, and would have them for the club. Also, Toddy, the audience really loved you in drag."

"It could work!" King felt better knowing that a possibility existed that would keep him together with Victoria. He was starting to like Toddy. The man was flamboyant, but had a good head on his shoulders. He and Squash had known each other for years, and were good friends.

"King, are you sure you don't want to go back to Chicago?" Squash wanted to make sure he wasn't overriding his friend's wishes.

"Not really. If I go back, you won't be there to be my bodyguard. You're the only one I trust. Plus, if I go back, I will most likely run into Norma and Sal. No thanks. Victoria is here, or in England. I will be with her."

Victoria put her head on his shoulder. When he looked down at her, she gave him a brief kiss.

"One more thing." King looked at the other two briefly, then back at Victoria. "Victoria, would you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Victoria's eyes filled with tears, and she nodded vigorously. The other two in the room cheered. King fished in the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a ring box. He opened it and removed a two-carat diamond solitaire gold ring, and placed it on the ring finger of Victoria's left hand.

Toddy called room service, and ordered a magnum of champagne. When it arrived, the four toasted the impending marriage, and the new venture the four were embarking on. It was a wonderful end to what had been a not-so-good week.


	2. Chapter 2: Before the Opening

Renovating the club was hard work. The four had decided, rather than hiring someone to do the work which would cost them money they didn't really want to spend if they could avoid it, to do the work themselves. King had grown up the hard way, so he wasn't afraid of hard work although he didn't like it. He made his money working as a bootlegger, and then invested in Sal's nightclub. Squash's dad was a carpenter. Toddy wasn't big on physical labor, but he was good at decorating. Victoria was willing to do whatever needed to be done. Between them all, they could handle the renovation.

The club itself was actually in decent shape. It was mainly the decorative work and the furniture that was smashed up. They had planned on replacing the furniture anyway, so it wasn't that big a deal. They were aiming at a higher class of clientele than Chez Lui had attracted. The current decorations were not what they wanted so replacing them was necessary anyway. Everything had to be cleaned and polished. The floor had to be refinished. What didn't need to be replaced needed to be repainted.

The club legally belonged to Toddy. He had French citizenship, so it was easier to put everything under his name. King provided most of the money, although the other three had put in what they could. Since King was using American dollars, and the dollar was very strong against the franc, the money went further than they had thought it would. They had a contract drawn up to say who had what percentage.

To save money, the four of them were living in the apartment over the club. It was decent size, the same size as the club. All four realized, however, that once the club opened, at least one couple would have to move out. Two sexually active couples would be more comfortable if they each had their own place.

The four had discussed several different names, but decided to wait until they had an idea as to what kind of acts they would have. That discussion took place over several weeks as they worked on the club. Victoria actually came up with the germ of the idea.

"Why don't we have impersonators, similar to what I was doing?"

"Female only, or male too?" Toddy liked the idea.

"What about regular performers as well as impersonators?" Squash thought that might make it more appealing to a broader range of clientele.

"Mix it up, and don't tell. Let the audience guess at the end of the night." King finished the idea.

The name they eventually came up with was "Le Illusion de Roi", "King's Illusion".

The next hurdle was getting the necessary papers for King, Squash, and Victoria to stay and work in Paris. Visitors could stay on their passport, but to work there for any length of time, they would need working papers. It took some time, plus string pulling by Andre and Toddy (who knew some secret things about various people in high places), but eventually they were legal.

The next problem was finding acts. Toddy was able to get in touch with the band that had worked for Labisse, and most of them were interested in coming back. The few that weren't, were replaced by new musicians. Toddy put the word out through his contacts that they were looking for performers, both impersonators and regular. Andre did the same.

Eventually, they had a dozen acts that could rotate through the days they were open, including Victoria and Toddy. Toddy wouldn't perform every night, but he would emcee. They decided to close Mondays and Tuesdays. This would allow everyone some downtime, and also would give them time to thoroughly clean the club once a week. They wanted people to not view "Le Illusion de Roi" as some second-rate club. They wanted everything to always look clean and new.

Next problem: finding waiters and a Maitre'd. It was Victoria's idea to hire that funny little waiter they had run into time after time.

"Why? He didn't seem very headwaiter-like to me." King was confused. He wasn't even sure he knew which waiter she was talking about.

Toddy, though, was enthused. "Yes! He has a sharp sense of humor, and he and I could do some back and forth throughout the show! He would be perfect."

"Problem is, how do we find him? I don't even know his name."

"I'll find him. I can have some of my friends do some looking around."

They found him about a week later, working in a second-rate restaurant. His name was Claude. After Toddy and Victoria apologized to him, he was happy to come work for them in a job that was definitely a step or two up from what he'd been doing. When they told him they wanted him to make comments to Toddy during his emcee duties, Claude was even happier.

After a couple of months, the club was renovated, the staff was hired, and everything was ready for the grand opening of _Le Illusion de Roi._


	3. Chapter 3: The Opening

A/N: Remember, if you recognize something, it's not mine. I tweaked the previous two chapters to clean them up a little. Now, on with The Opening!

Finally, Opening Night came. The club was ready, done in shades of blue and silver with hints of green. The performers were ready. All would perform for Opening Night. After that, they would rotate. The waiters were ready. Claude had reassured them that there would be plenty so patrons wouldn't have to wait very long. Andre had been advertising the club all over Paris.

The club would be a little different. All the performers would come onstage in formal dress for their own gender. They would perform an opening, which was written specifically for the club. Then Toddy would take over as emcee, and the ones who were performing that night would go back and get ready. Toddy would sing a song, do a little patter, and then the first performance would happen. For Opening Night, the first performer was Victoria. She would do "Le Jazz Hot", King's favorite out of all her numbers.

The lights lowered. The ensemble came out on stage and took their places. The lights came up. Toddy and Victoria were front center, with the others gathered around them in a seemingly random pattern.

"Welcome to King's Illusion, where things aren't as they seem.

Is it real, or is it merely one of your dreams?

Am I a femme fatale, or a man in a dress?

At the end of the show, you get to guess.

You won't know who's who until the end,

But things might change.

You need to come back again."

The Opening was a smash. The performers were amazing. The wait staff was perfect. The repartee between Toddy and Claude was brilliant. The club was shining. The next morning, the papers were raving.

"King's Illusion No Dream!"

"The Illusion is for Real!"

After the first week, people had to make reservations weeks in advance. Each show was packed. King and Toddy resisted Andre's request that they open all seven days. They felt that the performers needed the rest to stay at their best, and the club needed the two days for cleaning and maintenance to stay at its best.

A month after the club opened, King and Victoria moved to a flat a few blocks away from the club. They felt they needed the space, and were definitely going to need the extra bedrooms. Victoria would have to bow out of performing in a month or so. She was pregnant with their first child.


	4. Chapter 4: A Plausible Diversion

I don't own the characters or the setting. I'm simply playing in Blake Edwards' sandbox.

A Plausible Diversion

The first few years after Jeffrey was born were busy, but both King and Victoria were happy. Then, Toddy told King he was hearing some strange and worrying rumors coming from other parts of Europe. They put their heads together.

"Victoria, it will work!"

"King, it will not!"

"Look, all we need is a plausible diversion. The club will be that diversion. We can work them in as wait staff, or even performers if they're good enough. We get them fake papers, then they can disappear after a few weeks, with enough money to get them out of the country."

"Is Toddy sure this is what's happening?"

"Yes. What happened in Germany is going to work its way across Europe. Toddy has ears in some very high and strange places. Hitler won't be satisfied with just Germany. He will make a deal with the governments of the countries around him, then will go back on the deals."

"And people are disappearing already?"

"Not here around Paris, but in the areas closest to Germany, yes. If they are Jews, Gypsies, gay, or other minority groups, they are "disappearing", and no one knows where they're going."

"How will we hide them?"

"When we remodeled the club, there was a large basement. We divided the basement up into rooms. They are hidden, and no one but us knows they are there. It looks as if the basement only extends from the front to halfway back below the club. Those rooms can be used to hide people until we can get them out. Our provisions for guests of the club can be used to feed any refugees, and no one will look twice at how much we are buying."

"Okay, so what is the catch?"

"What do you mean?"

"When you and Toddy gang up on me, it usually means there's a catch."

"Victoria, I want you and Jeffrey to go to your family in England."

"What?"

"What we are doing should work, but there is risk involved. I would like you and our son to go to visit your family in England. We can tell others that you want Jeffrey to get to know his grandparents and other family, plus you want him away from the city for a while."

"I don't want to leave you!"

"I don't want you to go either, but I also want you both safe."

"Why don't we just send Jeffrey. I'm sure my parents would be fine taking care of him for us. Or, we could both go, and leave Squash to help Toddy."

"I would feel a lot better if you both went. I don't want to have to worry about you at the same time I'm worrying about us and the refugees. Plus, if we both leave, that will tell others that something is up."

Victoria knew she had lost the argument. King was right. If he and Toddy were going to make this work, it had to seem as normal as possible. Both King and Victoria disappearing would indeed signal problems, and would invite scrutiny. Her parents had been writing, asking when they would get to meet their grandson.

"All right. I'll make plans with my parents. It will take a couple of weeks, but we should be ready to go by the first of next month."

King let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, darling. I'm worried about what Toddy, Squash, and I see happening. It will relieve some of that worry to know you are safe, with Jeffrey."

Toddy walked into the room. "Are things settled?"

King nodded, and Victoria went over to him and gave him a hug.

"Are you sure this is necessary? Will you be safe doing this if it is?"

"Victoria, my sources are reliable, if eccentric. I know we could simply ignore it, and just carry on as usual. But, eventually it is going to happen here. I want to help as many people as we can, but we also need to make plans to eventually abandon everything here and get out of Dodge."

"I hadn't gotten to that part of the plan yet." King was exasperated with Toddy. He was hoping to postpone that discussion until later.

"What now?"

"We're going to start moving money out of France. I want you to take some of our profits with you, and put them in a bank in England. I'm also sending Squash back to the States, and he's going to be depositing money in New York. We don't want to go back to Chicago."

Victoria was not stupid. "You think things are going to get worse quickly, and you all may have to leave fast."

"Yes. We will do what we can for as long as we can, but we may need to make a fast getaway. Not having all our money here in France where we can't get to it if we need to run will be good. Having money to start over will make things easier for all of us."

Victoria saw the sense to that. She also saw what having it split between Britain and America meant.

"You think this problem could spread, at least is some form, to Britain as well, don't you?"

Toddy responded first. "I think that is a possibility. Not necessarily invasion, but England is too close to mainland Europe."

Victoria nodded. "I will simply rent a house rather than buying, and I will keep the money as liquid as possible, so we can get to it and get out quickly."

King sighed a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you. You have taken a load off my mind, and reminded me of one of the reasons I love you. You don't get hysterical, you think things through."

Toddy turned away as King and Victoria got all smoochy. He didn't need to see that.


	5. Chapter 5: I Think He's Divine

I don't own Victoria, King, Squash, or Toddy. I do own the kids. I'm just playing the "What happened after that?" game.

I'm sorry for the delay. RL got in the way. I don't know enough about the Resistance in France to do that part justice, so I simply went to the end. Warning! Character death. Have a hanky ready. Short but (hopefully) sweet.

I Think He's Divine

They came to Paris in the spring of 1950. He would have been 75. They brought the children, Jeffrey and his namesake. After checking into their hotel, they asked for the directions to the cemetery from the concierge.

The next morning, King and Victoria Marchand took their two children, Jeffrey King Marchand and Carole Todd Marchand to visit Toddy. His tombstone listed his name and the years of birth and death, as well as a message:

Carole Michael Todd

1875 – 1943

Greater Love Hath No Man Than This

"What does that mean Mum?" Jeffrey's voice clearly showed the years he spent growing up in England.

"Why is his name the same as mine?" Todd's curiosity was plain.

Victoria answered the questions in reverse order.

"Your name is the same because you were named for him. Jeffrey, the saying is part of a quote from the Bible. John 15:13 says, 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'" That's what Mr. Todd did. He was helping his friends escape from the war here. He got caught, and he was killed." Victoria's voice wasn't very steady by the end of her answer. Everyone sat down on the ground, because Victoria didn't know if her legs could hold her much longer.

Jeffrey picked up on her feelings right away.

"Was he your friend?"

Victoria could only nod. King took over answering his son.

"Toddy was the best friend your mom and I could have ever had. We all had a business together before the War. When things started going bad here in France, we sent you and your mom to Grams and Grampa in England. Toddy and I stayed here with Squash to help the people who were trying to get away from the Nazis. You remember meeting Squash?"

Jeffrey and Todd were wide-eyed. They simply nodded.

"Well, we helped all the people we could. There were others who helped too. Many of our employees stayed with us to help. Anyway, we did this for as long as possible. After a while, though, the Nazis took over. They didn't like people who were different, and Toddy was different. We tried to tell him he needed to leave, but he wanted to keep on helping for as long as possible. Eventually, he was captured. We found out later that they tried to get him to tell them what was going on and who was helping, but he wouldn't tell. They ended up killing him. Our friends here found where they dumped his body, and brought him here to have him buried. They got the information to me, and after the war I had the headstone erected."

Victoria hadn't asked how Toddy was killed, so this was new to her. After telling Toddy what had been going on, the family returned to the hotel.

That night, King told Victoria the rest of the story.

"After I got out of France, I went to the U.S. Something Toddy said indicated he had been in the military. I did some checking. It wasn't easy, but I found out that Toddy had fought in the Spanish-American War and the Phillipine-American War. He was cited for bravery. Toddy knew what he was getting himself into."

"I have the last piece of the puzzle. Toddy was dying. He wrote to me just before he was captured. He had gone to the doctor before the Nazis invaded. He had cancer, and the doctor said he couldn't do anything for him."

"He went the way he wanted to go. He was helping others, and protecting his friends."

Victoria put her head on King's shoulder.

"Greater love hath no man than this."


End file.
